diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 22342a2db1..216070836c 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ endif
 zlib_dep = dependency('zlib', required : false)
 if not zlib_dep.found()
   zlib_dep = cc.find_library('z', required : false)
-  if not zlib_dep.found()
+  if not zlib_dep.found() or not cc.has_header('zlib.h')
     zlib_dep = subproject('zlib').get_variable('zlib_dep')
   endif
 endif